Isaiah is highly poetic and regularly uses parallelism. As noted by Victor Ludlow:
Parallelism is the most distinctive quality of Hebrew poetry...In
parallelism, a thought, idea, grammar pattern, or key word of the
first line is repeated or continued in the second line. There are two
basic types of parallelism, grammatical and semantic...Among the types
of semantic parallelism...Synonymous parallelism: a theme of the first
line repeats itself in the second line, but in slightly different
words (Isaiah: Prophet, Seer, And Poet p. 32)
Blake Ostler has written a very thorough article on the subject of the Hebrew words used to describe creation in Isaiah, Genesis, etc. here. Ostler shows that all of these words are used in contexts which are decidedly not creation ex-nihilo, meaning none of these words can hold exclusively that meaning.
From Ostler:
There are three words in Hebrew scripture that can be translated in
English as create. According [to some], b_r_’ means to bring about
something with an absolute beginning, not created out of preexisting
material. They argue that the verb which should have been used in
Genesis 1:1 if Joseph Smith were correct is ‘asah, which they argue
means to make something out of preexisting material in the same way
that humans do, to fashion, accomplish, make, work or produce. In
addition, there is the verb yatsar which means to form, fashion,
frame, or make. But a sharp distinction between organizing preexisting
material for ‘asah and absolute creation where before there was
nothing in any sense for b_r_’ is simply an oversimplification. God
made Israel out of preexisting people and a clean heart out of an
existing heart.
On the other hand, these three verbs are often used interchangeably
and in parallel structures showing that they have essentially the same
semantic field. In Hebrew poetry, when words are placed in a parallel
form (parallelismus membrorum is the technical term) the words are
often used as synonyms or antonyms. For example, Isaiah 43:6-7 says:
Bring my sons from far,
and my daughters from the ends of the earth;
even every one that is called by my name:
for I have created (b_r_’ ) him for my glory,
I have formed (yatsar) him;
yea, I have made (‘asah) him.
Isaiah uses all three words for create to describe what God has done
for those called by his name. Moreover, none of these uses of the word
create in Hebrew mean to create ex nihilo, for they address how God
has taken an existing person and created a new personality in that
person to manifest his glory. Consider also Psalm 51:10 which uses the
verb b_r_’ : “Create (b_r_’ ) in me a clean heart, O God; and renew my
spirit within me.” In Psalm 33:15 the same thought is expressed using
the verb yatsar: “He fashioneth (yatsar) their hearts alike, he
considereth all their works.” The verbs b_r_’ and yatsar appear to be
used interchangeably or as synonyms.
Similarly, in Genesis 1:21 and 27 it says that: “And God created
(b_r_’ ) great whales, and every living creature that moveth, which
the waters brought forth abundantly, after their kind, and every
winged fowl after his kind, and God saw that it was good … So God
created (b_r_’ ) man in his own image, in the image of God created
(b_r_’ ) he him, male and female created (b_r_’ ) he them.” In
comparison, Genesis 2:7 says: “And the Lord God formed (yatsar) man
out of the dust of the ground, and breathed into him life; and man
became a living soul.” Man was not created from nothing, but from
preexisting dust of the ground. Further, Genesis 2:19 states that:
“And out of the ground the Lord formed (yatsar) every beast of the
field, end every fowl of the air; and brought them unto Adam to see
what he would call them.” Both man and beasts were created from
existing matter, yet in chapter one of Genesis the verb b_r_’ is used
for the same acts of creation whereas in chapter two the verb yatsar
is used.
More importantly, both b_r_’ and ‘asah are used in parallel form in
Isaiah 45:12 to describe the creation of the earth and man: “I have
made (‘asah) the earth and created (b_r_’ ) man upon it.” In the same
chapter of Isaiah, God is said to create (yatsar ) the earth: “God
himself that formed (yatsar) the earth and made (‘asah) it; he created
(b_r_’ ) it not in vain, he formed (yatsar) it to be inhabited.”
(Isaiah 45:7, 18) It is abundantly clear from this verse that b_r_’ ,
yatsar and ‘asah are used interchangeably, for God creates the earth
in all three senses.