“The pains of hell” were the “consciousness of [Zeezrom’s] own guilt” (v. 6). He recognized his accountability for leading many people astray. The only way to “loose yourself from the pains of hell (Jacob 3:11) is to make restitution for those sins. Some sins are much harder to make restitution for than others. Zeezrom attempts to make restitution by acknowledging his guilt before the angry followers of Satan (Alma 14:7). The difficulty of his making such restitution is illustrated by their reaction to Zeezrom’s confession. In fact, the seriousness of his sins was getting worse. The taking of the lives of the wives and children, as well as the believers (v. 8), was indirectly the responsibility of Zeezrom. Alma and Amulek being carried to the place of martyrdom (v. 9) also led Zeezrom to believe they too would be killed, and he would be accountable (see Alma 15:3).
The burning of the records (Alma 14:8) was done under the influence of Satan. Satan wants to destroy records (see Mormon 6:6), or alter them, which causes people to stumble (see 1 Nephi 13:25–29). The Lord instructs his people to keep records that they may testify of truth, and warn of evil consequences (see D&C 85:2). We learn from this incident of record burning that the Nephites had made copies of their records, or that they did not always keep their scriptures on metal plates. The records being burned and destroyed by fire suggests they were made of some type of wood, or skins, or parchment.