AbstractThe Bible has continued to feature in contemporary religious, political and socio-economic discourse in Africa. The emergence of contextual biblical hermeneutics in Africa can be justified in the light of this background. Contextual biblical hermeneutics is the attempt to introduce some African socio-cultural and political elements into the reading and understanding of the biblical text. This essay, however, advocates that contextual biblical hermeneutics can be done in order to enhance holistic development and empowerment. Empowerment has been described as the motivational factor that is constantly required to help stimulate a process of action in the bid to translate and transform a perennial situation into achieving its desired objective. In traditional African societies, the compartmentalization of reality into the realms of the sacred and profane is most unusual. Life for the traditional African is holistic in character. In view of this, the liberative and empowering elements within the bibli...